Employee support for corruption prevention: The roles of organizational ethical context and employee moral attentiveness

Abstract Integrating social information processing theory and psychological contract theory, we examine how different orientations of corruption prevention programs (compliance orientation and value orientation) and different forms of top management support for corruption prevention (written and role‐modeled) relate to employee support for corruption prevention, distinguishing between compliance (adherence to corruption prevention rules) and participation (proactive engagement). We also investigate the moderating role of employee moral attentiveness. An experimental vignette study, conducted as an online factorial survey, yielded 1176 judgments nested within 147 employees. Findings showed that both corruption prevention program orientations and both forms of top management support fostered both types of employee support for corruption prevention. However, top management support was a stronger predictor of both support behaviors than the orientation of corruption prevention programs, with role‐modeled top management support having the greatest impact. Moreover, employee moral attentiveness enhanced the effects of value‐oriented programs on both behaviors and of role‐modeled top management support on participation. We discuss the implications of these findings for corruption prevention research and practice.